Nurses urge Baystate Health to prioritize investment in frontline caregivers, patient services, and community healthcare

GREENFIELD, Mass., June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Registered nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center (BFMC), represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), are expressing concern and sympathy following the latest in a series of layoffs by Baystate Health. The workforce reductions occurred this week at BFMC, affecting employees across 22 departments and throughout the system, including longtime staff members and dozens who worked in information technology.

"We are heartbroken for our colleagues who lost their jobs," said Suzanne Love, RN, Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee. "Many of these staff members have dedicated years, and in some cases decades, of service to our patients and community. They deserve our gratitude and respect."

"We work as a team to support and heal patients," said Marissa Potter, RN, Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee. "When experienced employees are suddenly removed from the workforce, the impact is felt throughout the organization. We are concerned about what these cuts mean for patients, for those who remain, and for the future of local care."

These cuts immediately impacted patient care. For example, there is no longer patient transport available after 6 p.m. Baystate CEO Peter Banko came under fire earlier this year for publishing a book about firing people. Banko is making a 7-figure paycheck while low-wage workers and patients suffer under his cutbacks.

The layoffs come as Baystate Franklin nurses continue negotiations for a new MNA contract focused on recruitment and retention, safe staffing, affordable health insurance, and preserving access to high-quality local care. BFMC nurses voted 98% to reject Baystate's "best and final" contract offer on June 10.

BFMC nurses recognize that the U.S. healthcare system overall faces financial challenges due to decisions made at the federal level, but question how Baystate executives are prioritizing the organization's resources. Baystate pays its top executives millions of dollars a year and the organization is pursuing major investments elsewhere in its system.

"We believe Baystate's resources should be directed first toward the people and services patients rely on every day," Love said. "That means investing in the caregivers, support staff, and programs that make safe, local healthcare possible."

"Our community needs Baystate Franklin to remain strong," Potter said. "The best path forward is one that invests in patient care and our local workforce to preserve access to healthcare close to home. We urge Baystate leadership to make those priorities the focus of their decisions."

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 26,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association